Gaming PC, New Build or Off the Shelf?

Scribbler100

Hi, would really appreciate some advice from contributors to this forum. My son is keen to have a new gaming PC. We have a budget of about €1,100. He would like to build the PC himself while we are concerned in case he runs into problems with the project and finds himself with a bunch of expensive parts and no PC, with no warranty or support. We are considering getting him an Alienware Aurora with a couple of upgraded options, but he is concerned that, for example, the make of motherboard is not specified. I have filled out the template for this forum, and listed the parts he was thinking about for a self-build. Any advice on the Self build v Ready made options and also on the parts listed would be gratefully received:

1. What is your budget? €1,100

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming – Ssomething that can handle pretty much anything at 1080p at 60fps.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5a. If yes, what size do you need. N/A

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future?  1920x1080, Not planning to upgrade any time soon.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc. No

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Yes

8. How can you pay? Credit Card

9. When are you purchasing? ASAP

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin/North Wicklow]

Parts my son is considering for Self Build:

CPU: Intel Core i5 6600K 3.5GHz CPU/APU
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC Mate Motherboard
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB Hard Drive
Graphics Card: AMD Raedon RX480 8GB Graphics Card or EVGA GTX 970
Case: NZXT S340 White Case
Power Supply: Rosewill 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
OS: Microsoft Windows 10
Monitor: Already has 58cm 1920x1080

Also, is it possible to get help with the build if necessary?

Thanks for any help!

Woden

There is an in-between option for the self build versus ready made build from the likes of Alienware. You can take a look at the likes of overclockers.co.uk and scan.co.uk which generally have custom build options with a large selection of parts (assuming they will ship the build to Ireland). Compare this with the cost of the parts individually then to see the premium put on the build. These builds will generally come with support/warranty then.

My only comment on the build itself is that I would be looking at an SSD options as the primary drive and then the HDD Western digital blue as a storage drive.

[edit] Here is a baseline example that roughly matches your specs but price is in £ - https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/configurator/overclocked-gaming-pc-mid-range[/edit]

Digital Solitude

Switch the motherboard for a Z170 board, that CPU won't fit into a Z97.

All the parts have their own individual warranty, so if something is broken he'll have to get onto the supplier and they should replace it no problem. If you're genuinely worried about things being broken buy from Amazon or Overclockers, they have excellent aftersale support.

The €1,100 Aurora is league's behind the PC he's chosen to build (i7 6700k with a 950)

I'd recommend the 480 over the 970 also.

I'm in no place to help with the actual construction but you'll hopefully find someone, its pretty easy to do and I'm sure your son will know what he's doing.

You also don't have any RAM listed, and I agree re adding an SSD also. We can help if you need to bring the budget down a bit to add these

K.O.Kiki

Avoid Rosewill PSUs, cheap Chinese junk.

XFX TS, EVGA G-series or Corsair RMX are recommended for good gaming rigs.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

*EDIT: see below


Example parts list.

• RX 470 is within 2-3fps of the RX 480 in 1080p gaming benchmarks.
• Z170 motherboard needed for this kind of build

Scribbler100

Thanks so much for the replies, this has given us lots to think about. I feel a lot more confident about viable alternatives to the ready made option if we can rely on guidance and suggestions from this forum. I'll talk it through with my son and doubtless will be back with further queries before long. We really appreciate your input.

TerrorFirmer

It's a solid build but there are other options, too. I understand you said you're willing to overclock, but with Intel processors overclocking isn't really necessary as much as it is an enthusiast pursuit. If you went with an i5-6500 processor, H170 mobo, and used the stock Intel cooler (a CPU cooler comes with the i5) you can get the GTX1060 and afford to upgrade the SSD to a 500GB model for the same money. In fact it's possible to get the GTX1070 for the same price with a few changes, which really murders the RX470/480, but at the moment would be a little overkill for 1080p (though not necessarily a bad buy if you intend to keep this machine for years before upgrading),

Scribbler100

My son is delighted that the self-build is back on the table and has been discussing it with his friends. They now suggesting a liquid cooler for the CPU, but I think this would take a big unnecessary bite out of our budget. From TerrorFirmer's post do I gather that a *cooler is only required if the CPU is overclocked? Therefore would a liquid cooler only be required if the CPU was overclocked by an outrageous factor? The consensus here seems to be that even with overclocking, air cooling would suffice. Am slightly concerned that the prospect of this new PC for my boy is going to be like giving a car to a teenager and having him thrash the engine to bits!

Edit: *Sorry, I meant a supplementary cooler, above and beyond one that comes with the i5

TerrorFirmer

I would say you can leave overclocking alone altogether.

Overclocking is now an enthusiast pursuit and unnecessarily for 95% of people. Years ago, you could overclock entry level, cheap processors that made €60 processors perform similar to €400 processors.

These days, that's all gone - only high-end specially unlocked processors can be overclocked which only benefits a tiny minority of extremely high end gamers. Your standard i5-6500 will last years without having to touch it.

The i5 comes with an Intel stock cooler included which is perfectly fine. The saving means you can pump more into a better graphics card which will make a difference. If you're son is keen on having a windowed case where things look cool, you can get an air cooler like an Evo 212 for €30 but it's not necessarily from a functional point of view.

For example - a world champion overclock on a 6600K with a Radeon RX480 graphics card is still slower than an i5-6500 system with a GTX1060 and way slower than an i5-6500 with a GTX1070.

K.O.Kiki

After a little thinking, I realised my initial suggestion is putting too much budget into the wrong areas.

Please see below for a new parts list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (€185.00) (TRAY, @ Mindfactory)
CPU Cooler: Scythe Kotetsu 79.0 CFM CPU Cooler (€34.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Pro4S ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€106.84 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€84.73 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€72.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (€75.84 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: Palit GeForce GTX 1060 6GB JetStream Video Card (€286.89 @ Mindfactory)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black/Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case (€85.34 @ Mindfactory)
Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (€76.51 @ Mindfactory)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (€99.16 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €1108.09
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-23 15:24 CEST+0200

Scribbler100

Hi Guys, thanks for all the advice, helping us to steer clear of dodgy components and get the best (rather than simply the coolest looking) system for our budget. I am shocked at how the costs seem to vary. Yesterday the Palit GeForce video card on Mindfactory cost €286.89, today it's €298.96, or are we doing something daft in our search? We think we are getting closer to a final list, but once again would appreciate your input on whether my boy taking risks or cutting costs in the wrong areas.
He is looking at a Samsung SSD, is that wise? He is opting for 1 rather than 2TB HDD. Most components are coming from MindFactory but he reckons the delivery cost on the PC Case is less via Amazon. This is the current spec:

CPU: Intel Core i5 6500 4x 3.20GHz So.1151 TRAY MindFactory (€185.84)
CPU Cooler: Using stock Intel cooler
Motherboard:MSI Z170-A PRO Intel Z170 So.1151 Dual Channel DDR4 ATX Retail MindFactory(€99.12)
Memory:16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX schwarz DDR4- MindFactory(€82.44)
Storage (SSD):250GB Samsung 750 Evo 2.5" (6.4cm) SATA  MindFactory(€68.85)
Storage (HDD):1000GB WD Blue WD10EZEX 64MB 3.5" (8.9cm)  MindFactory(€46.21)
Video Card: 6144MB Palit GeForce GTX 1060 Super  MindFactory(€298.96)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) Amazon UK (£59.99 Roughly €80)
PSU:750 Watt Corsair RMx Series RM750x Modular  MindFactory (€109.85)

We haven't included Windows 10 which will add another €100 or so. Including delivery charges this comes in under budget. What do people think? Thanks again for the expertise.

K.O.Kiki

Scribbler100 wrote: »

Hi Guys, thanks for all the advice, helping us to steer clear of dodgy components and get the best (rather than simply the coolest looking) system for our budget. I am shocked at how the costs seem to vary. Yesterday the Palit GeForce video card on Mindfactory cost €286.89, today it's €298.96, or are we doing something daft in our search? We think we are getting closer to a final list, but once again would appreciate your input on whether my boy taking risks or cutting costs in the wrong areas.
He is looking at a Samsung SSD, is that wise? He is opting for 1 rather than 2TB HDD. Most components are coming from MindFactory but he reckons the delivery cost on the PC Case is less via Amazon. This is the current spec:

CPU: Intel Core i5 6500 4x 3.20GHz So.1151 TRAY MindFactory (€185.84)
CPU Cooler: Using stock Intel cooler
Motherboard:MSI Z170-A PRO Intel Z170 So.1151 Dual Channel DDR4 ATX Retail MindFactory(€99.12)
Memory:16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX schwarz DDR4- MindFactory(€82.44)
Storage (SSD):250GB Samsung 750 Evo 2.5" (6.4cm) SATA  MindFactory(€68.85)
Storage (HDD):1000GB WD Blue WD10EZEX 64MB 3.5" (8.9cm)  MindFactory(€46.21)
Video Card: 6144MB Palit GeForce GTX 1060 Super  MindFactory(€298.96)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) Amazon UK (£59.99 Roughly €80)
PSU:750 Watt Corsair RMx Series RM750x Modular  MindFactory (€109.85)

We haven't included Windows 10 which will add another €100 or so. Including delivery charges this comes in under budget. What do people think? Thanks again for the expertise.

Prices definitely fluctuate a bit.

Also re: Windows
http://www.windowscentral.com/you-do-not-need-activate-windows-10

Digital Solitude

You only need a 500W PSU.

Whats the story with 100 quid in the difference with that 1060 and the one Bloodbath has in the other thread? Cooler hardly worth 90 quid

TerrorFirmer

His was probably a 3GB model? Agree that the PSU is massive overkill, also no need for a Z170 board, I would say even a basic H110M would be fine for this scenario. Ram can also be gotten cheaper than that for 16GB 2133mhz DDR4.

Scribbler100

Have been studying latest posts, thanks for link to Windows 10 options and also for picking up on the 750W PSU overkill which had slipped into the list. We have reined that in but my son is still keen to go for 650W to allow for future upgrades e.g. adding a second graphics card. I'm slightly confused (am a noob) because in the earlier posts there seemed to be a consensus that the i5 6500 processor and the Z170 motherboard were good options, but now not so much? Thanks for your patience!

Digital Solitude

Tell him a second graphics card is only a good idea if he's buying two of the highest end cards, short of that one more powerful card is a better idea.

Z170s are just nice to have if not with an overclocking cpu,that i5 isn't an overclocker so there's no necessity for the Z170

K.O.Kiki

Digital Solitude wrote: »

You only need a 500W PSU.

Whats the story with 100 quid in the difference with that 1060 and the one Bloodbath has in the other thread? Cooler hardly worth 90 quid

The PSU might be overkill, but it's a proper Corsair RMx model (among the best you can get).

Venom

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

The PSU might be overkill, but it's a proper Corsair RMx model (among the best you can get).

No such thing as overkill when it comes to a PSU imho as if it goes belly up, you can be in a real world of hurt. My 5 year old HX 850 is still going strong and will be used in my Kabylake build next year

Scribbler100

Hi again, folks. We have ordered the parts for my son's gaming PC, some of which have already arrived. We ordered the i6500 CPU and didn't order a separate cooler, but one of my son's friends has suggested that because we ordered the TRAY version of the CPU, it won't come with the stock cooler included. On double checking K.O.Kiki's list, I see that the Scythe Kotetsu Cooler was included as part of the spec even though the CPU was the i6500. Do we need to order one now? Is there a danger that he will fry the CPU without a separate cooler? Thanks, as always, for your advice.

Metric Tensor

You will 100% need a cooler - all CPUs need one but most come with a "stock" cooler in the box that will be more than enough for the average users needs.

I think (but the guys here will confirm) that the tray version of the processor does not include a fan/cooler as standard so you'll have to pick one up separately. They're not very expensive.

Shlippery

New intel k processors come without a cooler as these are unlocked for overclocking and as such a stock fan wouldn't be enough to support them, so I guess they stopped shipping them.

If it's non-k you get a basic intel one.


So if you went for the 6600k in ki-kis build you will indeed need a cheap cooler!

Digital Solitude

Non k CPUs come with a tray version with no cooler though, which is what OP has bought.

You will definitely need to get a cooler for it, a third party one like Kiki has listed, or else someone here might have a spare they'd send on

Shlippery

Digital Solitude wrote: »

Non k CPUs come with a tray version with no cooler though, which is what OP has bought.

You will definitely need to get a cooler for it, a third party one like Kiki has listed, or else someone here might have a spare they'd send on

My bad, only looked at kikis first links with the 6600k in it!

TerrorFirmer

If you're stuck, Maplin will have a suitable cooler, but you cannot use the PC without some form of cooler.

K.O.Kiki

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

If you're stuck, Maplin will have a suitable cooler, but you cannot use the PC without some form of cooler.

Shop4Memory have good Raijintek coolers at decent prices.

Scribbler100

Thanks guys, much appreciated, will get ordering...

Scribbler100

Hi guys, all the PC parts arrived and my son and his (more experienced) friends put them together over the weekend. The various components (many recommended by K.O.Kiki) were much admired by all and I caused a bit of jaw-dropping with my well-informed comments on overclocking (thanks TerrorFirmer). I just want to say how much we appreciate all the contributions from this forum. My husband was very close to ordering the Off-The-Shelf gaming PC when I thought of seeking advice here. The expertise and experience shared freely on this forum has resulted in my son having the best machine he could possibly have within our budget. He is absolutely thrilled. Thanks again, folks.